KNBR
The “P” word was hard to come by.
No, not Pence, as in Hunter, who will be rejoining the team and whom former teammates and his new manager were hesitant to talk about because it’s not yet official.
The other “P” word, that only Brandon Belt breathed, the first baseman, 32 in April, who does not want to hear about a rebuild.
“I’ve seen a lot about transitioning as a team,” Belt said at Oracle Park. “But I think in our minds it’s still go out there and win baseball games, and I don’t say that as a cliche. That’s really how I feel about it. You want to get back to winning. It’s not fun losing. I think our mindset is go out there, win as many games as possible, get back to the playoffs.”
It is a tired story — veterans do not believe they’re finished — but it’s an undeniable one to emerge from Friday’s media availability before FanFest. Belt, Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey will be the elder faces of a split team, consisting of projects and core members who’ve lost friends over the past few months in Joe Panik, Bruce Bochy and Madison Bumgarner.
The declines have been undeniable among the survivors. Posey has 12 home runs in 219 games the past two seasons. Belt’s .403 slugging percentage last year was the worst of his career. Crawford, at .228/.304/.350, has an argument that he was the majors’ worst hitter last year.
They are not waving white flags. They are instead lifting bats and listening to a new, innovative coaching staff that, in several cases, is younger than they are, and believing the talent is hidden and not gone.
Posey said at the end of last season he had some ideas about how his swing will have to be tweaked, and he’s ready to bounce those ideas off the trio of Donnie Ecker, Justin Viele and Dustin Lind.
“There’s some mechanical things I do need to either change or get back to doing what I had done before,” said Posey, who was among the many who appreciates the slightly cozier Oracle Park dimensions. “And again, I don’t want to get too specific with it. But there’s some things that I think can help. And I think having a few sets of different eyes will be helpful as well.”
Speaking for the core and entire team, really, Posey added, “We’re going to have to make some changes.”
The iconic catcher, who will be the undisputed leader without Bumgarner around, had more reasons for optimism. He had a healthy offseason that didn’t involve recovery from hip surgery, as his previous offseason featured.
“The way my hip feels right now compared to last year is night and day,” said Posey, who said he could barely run at this time last year.
Buster Posey on hope for this #SFGiants season, and in particular the team’s core.
“We’re going to have to make some changes.” pic.twitter.com/2X4yE7n3pG
— Mark W. Sanchez (@MarkWSanchez) February 8, 2020
Belt echoed the notion — “I’m not trying to make excuses for us … [but] I think the past couple years, there’s been some injuries that have crept in and kept us from playing at our full potential.” Belt has knees that feel better and will have a coaching staff that admires his batting eye. Gabe Kapler has often mentioned Belt’s quietly productive approach at the plate, making the aging infielder one of the more intriguing projects on the team.
Belt was not the only one to mention he has “a lot left in the tank.”
“I feel like I have some untapped potential,” Belt said.
Among the trio — not including Evan Longoria, whose decline has been less pronounced — expectations are lowest for Crawford, who’s signed for two more years and $30 million. There has been concern about how much Crawford, perhaps the most stubborn of the crew, would take to a new staff that wanted to squeeze more production out of him.
Would a three-time Gold Glover be willing to listen to advice about a glove and range that have tapered off? According to Crawford, the answer is, firmly, yes.
He’s been in Scottsdale for a while already, working with the hitting trio, who have dug into tape of his swing dating back to his rookie season, comparing and contrasting and finding what’s gone wrong. The adjustments “are pretty minor,” Crawford said, “I think [they] will help me out.”
If this all goes well, perhaps Belt’s “P” word isn’t crazy. But there are even more “ifs” than creative minds around the team.